


Of Fools and Dreams

by ALC_Punk



Category: Aliens (1986)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-11
Updated: 2006-01-11
Packaged: 2017-11-27 01:04:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/656312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALC_Punk/pseuds/ALC_Punk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre-movie. Vasquez is faced with a life choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Fools and Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Female Gen Ficathon. Prompt 'cordite'.

The sweat on her back reminds her she's alive. The taste of the flashlight between her teeth grounds her. Makes her hands steady as she winds the wire around the lock. 

Hurry.

Thirty more seconds, and the guard will be back for his rounds.

Outside, the rain falls, turning the grit in the streets to sludge. Blue-black light from the night-lamps turn the streets greyer than ever. Slick black water and neon shining on puddles. 

Vasquez tightens the wire, sets the lighter against the bottom and watches the catalytic reaction flare up. 

Then its duck back around the corner, counting the seconds until the sound of the returning guard almost gets her caught. 

Flashlight to the back of his skull while he's staring at the now-open safe. 

She doesn't bother catching him as he falls, instead, she moves and empties the loot efficiently. Forty seconds, and she's done and stepping over the inert body, heading out through the hall. 

Ten seconds and she's out in the cold and the rain, boots splashing the first puddle she hits, scattering the reflected neon.

"Freeze." The voice is cold and precise.

Vasquez turns towards it, swinging the bag and catching the officer by surprise. His gun goes flying, and she punches him in the gut before he recovers. While he's going down, she's whirling to kick his partner.

A third tackles her around the waist, and she goes down into the puddle, growling and fighting. Water soaks her shirt and pants, but she's more interested in grinding the officer's face into the mud. The fourth kicks her in the side, making her gasp in pain.

They pile onto her, trying to hold her down. It takes three of them to get the cuffs on her, and she leaves them with scratches and bruises.

A sense of satisfaction fills her when one of them slams the butt of his gun into her jaw. It's swiftly followed by everything going black.

-=-

"Good, you're awake."

They stuck her in a chair and her back hurts. Vasquez slits her eyes and lets loose a torrent of abuse, her mouth moving too fast. Words her mother used to hurl at her father, brothers and her. She has the satisfaction of seeing the man's face go red before he slams a fist onto the table. 

"That's enough."

"Fuck a duck, asshole."

He glares, hands twitching. "You have a choice in front of you. You can either go to prison for the rest of your life--not long, given your violent reputation."

A sneer curls her lip up, "Gonna have me killed? Keep your lily-white hands clean? That's good for you, yeah."

"Or," he steps back, as if putting more distance between them makes him feel better, "You join the Colonial marines, and they'll keep your ass in line."

She shifts, and the drying mud cracks on her arm. "Not much of a choice."

A smile touches his lips, full of mocking. "Not at all."

Marines. Jail. Really no choice at all. "Sign me up to shoot the big guns, baby."

-=-

Ten weeks of basic doesn't break her. Not only that, but she falls in with a guy named Drake. They end up trading stories. Pretty soon, he's got her back and she's got his.

Four months out on their first bug hunt, she saves his life.

He never forgets it.


End file.
